


The hunt of a Lion (HP SI)

by Dragonspectre



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 11:35:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30054858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonspectre/pseuds/Dragonspectre
Summary: My journey began when I was kidnapped by a cosmic entity. That thing would rue the day it tried to mess with me. But first I got to set myself in order and deal with some locals. It doesn't help that the locals were no pushovers. One way or another I will survive.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Harry Walker rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up in his bed. He felt the bed empty beside himself which was weird. Then he heard sounds from the bathroom and he relaxed.

"When did you wake up?" he called out even as he pulled on his pants and shirt.

"Half an hour or so. I didn't want to disturb you and I had this assignment to finish." said his girlfriend from the shower.

"When did you start doing assignments?"

"Since today. I made you coffee. It's on the table."

"Thanks."

He crawled over to the table beside their bed and sure enough, there was a cup of coffee. An instant coffee by the bedside means his girlfriend was in a generous mood. No need to plummet that with any complaints of a lack of sugar, he thought as he drank greedily from the cup.

It was then that a purple envelop caught his eye. He picked it up and curiously enough it had his name on it. He didn't remember getting any mail last day or even in the week. Nonetheless, he opened the envelope and a fancy silvery card fell out of it.

On one side there was a smiling face of a black bat. He flipped the card over and to his surprise, it was a short sentence.

_Congratulations! You have been selected for the glorious purpose of entertaining me._

_-Your friendly neighbourhood ROB._

"Which sick fuck thought this would be a good joke?"

Harry suddenly had to shield his eyes as the card flared up in a silver light and then he knew no more.

When he regained his vision he was in an unfamiliar bed in a room with an unfamiliar ceiling. Everything was red and gold. The bright colours continued to be distracting from some of the alien feelings he was getting but not for long. He felt different and he realized that he was feeling extremely weak.

He felt his body with his palms and realized with growing horror that he was touching something unfamiliar. He looked at his body with an open mouth. He was tiny and frail. It looked like the body of a skinny teen. He has always been a little bit stocky and his body did have some muscle mass.

But none of that could be seen in his new body right now. It looked like the body of an underfed teenage kid. Then out of nowhere, he felt a pain in his head. It felt as if he was hit by a baseball bat. A rush of memories and emotions was shooting through his head. He bit into the pillow to stop himself from screaming. A minute later the pain in his head subsided and he just lay back in his bed with a stunning revelation.

Somehow by some cosmic fluke, his memories or soul was transported into the Harry Potter Universe. He was not exactly sure about the mechanics of how that happened or why. But what he knew was that he was now occupying the body of Harry Potter, the protagonist of the story written by J K Rowling.

He knew just how absurd that sounds but this was happening. As if this was not enough he could also recall some weird memories of another fellow in his head. With growing horror, he realized this was Voldemort's memories but thankfully it was bits and pieces.

It was some of the violent events he was witnessing within his own head. This whole mess was troubling and he just couldn't sit still with his head filled with alien memories. He just felt so lost and scared and he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Thankfully it was a Sunday and hence there were no classes. He threw some clothes on and at the last moment pocketed his wand on the way out.

His dorm mates were fast asleep and he was careful not to wake them up. When he stepped into the common room it was deserted and he thanked his lucky stars they were. He stepped out of the Gryffindor tower altogether and just roamed the castle. He took in the different sights of Hogwarts. The moving portraits and stairs were enforcing the present scenario he found himself in which was both soothing and troubling.

As he continuously saw the many stairs and hallways it became increasingly normal for him to accept his predicament. The memories of Harry Potter where syncing into his consciousness and he was finding it increasingly hard to think that this was all a dream.

As he was about to turn a corner he heard footsteps approaching from the other end. For a moment he panicked as his mind supplied that he was out of bounds. He was not supposed to wander the hallways this early.

The sun was barely up and there were a few hours to sunrise. His heart thundered in his chest and his hand moved as if in a trance. The next thing he knows he was waving the Holly wand around himself in a wide circle. He felt a slight tingle on his skin and he stayed perfectly still. He was even holding his breath and the footsteps came closer and closer. He had the urge to close his eyes but by sheer will, he stamped down that urge. The figure turned the corner and he saw that it was Professor Sprout. The Head of Hufflepuff House paid him no mind and moved along as if he was not there.

He blinked in surprise at this apparent luck. It was then that he noticed that his body was invisible. He found himself flick his wand and the invisibility collapsed. Somehow he had turned himself invisible without involving his consciousness.

"I need help. I need serious help." He whispered in fear.

* * *

He didn't know how long he wandered the grounds of Hogwarts. It must have been an hour since he escaped the castle and came into the grounds. He was now walking by the Black Lake aimlessly and he found that therapeutic. The cold damp air was uncomfortable but he found it helped in calming his raging thoughts.

In his hour of self-reflection, he had found some peace of mind. He accepted that he was either in a grand delusion or he was exactly where he thinks he was right now. While logic dictates that he was making this all up he decided that it was better to act under the assumption that this was all real.

Frankly, he found he has no other choice. He couldn't just stay somewhere and hope this whole thing would go away. Whatever this was it was happening around him. At the very least he knew he bled red when he poked his arm with a piece of stick. That experiment let him confirm that he could get hurt. Now, his priority was to not get hurt mentally or physically which was a good first goal in his opinion.

The second goal was to never reveal what he was going through with anyone else. He doubted anyone would believe him anyway. Even if by some unseen stroke of luck someone did they could hardly do anything. He was not going to depend on some stranger for help when there was a serious chance that he could be put in a mental asylum. In the worst-case scenario, he may just get memory wiped which would be a major blow to his identity. His identity revolved around his memories and he was not going to sacrifice that in a fit of stupidity.

The third goal was to survive at any cost. He didn't want to die and he certainly thought of killing himself a few minutes back but he didn't have the strength to off himself. While he didn't have the strength to finish his own life he was certainly not going to let someone else take him down.

The fourth goal was to somehow get back to his own world. At the moment that was an impossible goal. He knew that but this was something that he would refuse to abandon. The pain in his heart at the cruel separation from his family, friends, girlfriend and all his buddies was real. He doubted that it would go away and he doesn't intend to give up on them. He would seek his old life and then there was the final goal.

The final goal was to find the son of bitch that dared to send him into this spiralling madness and kill him in the most horrible way that mankind had ever envisioned. He would kill this ROB or whatever shmuck that was behind this bullshit.

A flash of fire up above his head made him rear back. A piece of paper fell out of the fire and he caught it with a frown. There was a neat writing on the paper that made his rage set off.

_For future reference call me Nobu. Now have a good day Mr Potter and enjoy the little something I put in your head._

"Oh, you sick bastard. I swear I will kill you. You hear me you filthy cosmic trash. I will kill you." Harry screamed into the open sky.

It took Harry quite a while to find his mental balance but he was more than fired up to kill the guy right then and there. The anger and rage that was coursing through his veins proved to be of use. It allowed his mind to sharpen his intellect and he sought out the best place in that situation.

Harry found himself on the seventh floor of the castle. He walked through the left corridor and finally found himself before a brick wall. He walked back and forth concentrating his mind on what he needed. A door materialised on his third pass and he walked in slowly. The door disappeared behind him and he found himself in a room with a wide swimming pool. Swimming was his way to relax and that has not changed because of his body switch. Shedding his clothes he jumped in and let the cool water of the pool relax him.

As he took laps across the pool he thought of his present predicament. He was now in his fourth academic year at Hogwarts. A week ago the Champions for the Tri-Wizard tournament was selected. He was bound by his magic to compete and while he had his doubts about that he was not particularly interested in trying his luck by not participating. The best way to move forward was to compete. Let his enemies think they have their trap set and he could gain a whole year to plan his own counter.

But that was some months away. The present goal was to somehow survive an encounter with a dragon if the timeline remains stable. The memories in his head aligned with what he knew from the books so that was a relief. Although, he was not keen on planning everything out based on his knowledge of the books. He would have to keep his eye on what was happening around him for any changes in the timeline.

Either way, he had to survive the first task. Whether it remained a dragon or some other creature he had to face remained to be seen. What he knew for sure was that he needs the training to survive all the tasks. He couldn't just depend on his instincts to get lucky. He would have to train himself in using magic and this was a better place than any for his training. Everything that he would need could be provided by the room.

With that settled the only remaining problem was his friends. At the moment he knew the relationship between his friends remained frosty. It was a good thing in his opinion as he needs some time to ease in into the social order of Hogwarts. It was bound to be problematic but there was nothing he could to help that. His body might be of Harry Potter but his identity was of Harry Walker and there was no compromise on that front.


	2. Ch2: Quest for knowledge

Magic was a source of energy that allowed one to manipulate the forces of nature or exert one's will upon the world. It allowed one to shape the physical and metaphysical plane according to the whims and fancies of the wielder. The requirement to accomplish these feats was to have the ability and mental fortitude to manipulate magical energy within one's body.

The ability to maintain a disciplined mind played a major part in constructing spells. The verbal commands in Latin were only a method of developing that concentration. The true skill of a wizard was in constructing spells with sheer will, imagination and concentration. Magical power was a factor but power was something that would grow in time.

Harry was not at that place where he could just wave his wand and let the magic unfold. At least he was not able to do so consciously. The fluke with the disillusion charm was not something that he could depend on.

With this in mind, he began learning spells that solely focused on defence and offence. He constructed a list of spells in his memory from the Harry Potter books that were offensive in nature. The Unforgivable Curses was a no-go as it would land him in prison even if he was using it on a magical creature. The next lethal spell that he knew was the Sectumsempra curse which he does not know how to perform. The spell remained a mystery in the old Potion's book of Severus Snape. He was going to search for the book but for the time being, it was inaccessible. The next few curses were easily accessible. There was the blasting curse, the disarming charm, the shield charm and many other spells that could be accessed in the Hogwarts library.

To that end, he searched all those books that offered such spells from the Library. While there was a three book per person limit in the library he took the most useful books that offered a wide variety of charms and curses. There was 'A hundred Charms to Bind' by Gerald Horne. Then there was 'Spells for hunting creatures' by Aron Goldstein. The last but not least 'Shielding and Deflection' by Madam Paula Everheart.

These were the books that he would use to learn a variety of spells and their effects. While Library hours were useful in researching new spells he used the daily useless History of Magic and Divination classes to read up the material and make notes. While these spells were of no great value in dealing with dragons it was nonetheless useful.

His true research however was conducted in parts in the library and the Room of Requirements. From his research on Dragons so far he learned that they had extreme magic resistant skin. A direct magical assault on a Dragon was hardly going to let him complete the First Task. The thought of using a broom was ludicrous as he didn't know whether he remained a flying prodigy. In any case, flying was not an option as he was not going to depend on muscle memories.

Or, perhaps I should try riding the Firebolt. At least it could be a Plan B, he thought.

Nodding to himself he made a note of that idea on a small letter pad that he carried with him to the library.

"What are you doing?"

Harry found the owner of that voice to be Hermione Granger. He had been avoiding this particular person since the last day but it couldn't be helped.

"I thought it obvious. I am reading a book."

"That's more than obvious Harry. I meant what are you reading?" she asked in a whisper and took a seat across from him at the table.

Harry glanced at the resident librarian Madam Pince who was keeping an unhealthy amount of attention on him for some reason. Thankfully, the woman was looking the other way for the time being.

"I am researching some magical creatures and devising ways to counter them." He answered keeping his voice down.

"Harry that's a good idea."

"I know."

He hoped the conversation would end there and concentrated on the books that were laid out before him.

"So which magical creature are you looking into?" asked Hermione not just content to leave the conversation dry.

"At the moment Dragons." He said and blinked in confusion as she took some books from the stacks that he had gathered.

"In that case let me help."

Hermione began to read a book on the Chinese Fireball.

Harry was aware of the occasional glances that Hermione was taking at him and it made him nervous. He was sailing through uncharted territory here and he didn't know just how to properly deal with his 'friends'. The last day was easy enough as it was a Sunday and he had locked himself in the ROR familiarising his magic. But now that classes were open he was once again saddled with the difficult task of dealing with his 'social' life.

"Ok. Enough of this. Why are you avoiding me?" asked Hermione all of a sudden.

"What? Rubbish." He tried to wave her concerns away while his mind spun to find a proper way to deal with what was going on.

"Don't think that I didn't notice that you have been avoiding me last day. Just because Ron is being stupid doesn't mean you have to shut out all your friends."

"I am not shutting you out Hermione. I just think that I should use the time I have productively in mastering as much magic as I can. Whoever put my name in it wants me dead or maimed. I have decided that I will not give them that satisfaction."

"Then let me help you, Harry."

"You are helping me right now." He pointed out.

"You didn't even speak a word to me yesterday." Hermione accused.

"I was dealing with some personal issues."

"What personal issues?" she asked dubiously with a frown.

"If you haven't noticed I am garnering a lot of hate from the student population. And as usual, the Hogwarts staff remain exceedingly ignorant or outright apathetic."

"Harry, they are just being stupid."

"Well, we seem to be surrounded by a lot of stupid people. This reminds me of the Second Year."

"Oh, Harry. I am sure Professor Dumbledore will find out who put your name into the Goblet."

"I am not so sure he will make that effort. His recent inaction and his unwillingness to explain what has happened in regards to me have only brought disfavour on me. Not to mention year after year I am constantly thrown into danger in this school. I am starting to think that he is part of the problem as well."

"Harry! Surely you don't mean that. Professor Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time."

"So?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He obviously knows what he is doing." She said with a look that brokered no argument.

This was what he feared and his fears were being realized. It turned out that his 'friend' was quite under the thumb of Albus Dumbledore, a man that he had declared as his enemy on principle. For the previous Harry Potter, the Headmaster may have been a personal hero but not to this new Harry Potter.

No, he saw Dumbledore as his natural enemy. How could the Headmaster ever not become his enemy? His plans required breaking out of the confinement that Dumbledore has built around him in an effort to create a martyr for the upcoming war. But he had no intention of dancing to the tune of some old coot, whatever his endgame may be.

Harry would break out from Dumbledore's thumb. It was only a matter of when not how. He already had some plans in his mind to that effect. But he now knew that Hermione would be an unreliable variable in his plans. He just knew that people with blind faiths are not exactly a good company to have. At the same time, he didn't want to alienate Hermione Granger for that reason alone. No matter what she was just a teenage girl with faults and merits of her own.

So he just nodded silently to her argument and ended that conversation. Hermione took that as his agreement and she went back to reading the book.

Time passed and they discussed their findings of Dragons on their way to Transfiguration class.

"It is mentioned that Dragons have highly magic resistant skin. The Chinese Fireball also has a potent fire that has extreme magical properties." said Hermione excitedly.

He thought she was enjoying this discussion far too much. It was understandable considering she lacked any friends that were passionate about discussing academics.

"Yes, and it is a common trait I have seen with other Dragons. I read about the Hungarian Horntail. It is supposed to be the most aggressive creature of its kind. They seek out danger and the book mentions that they are cannibalistic in nature."

"Truly! I didn't know that. But I have read that there are several Dragon Reserves across the wizarding world. Surely there is some type of magic that can subdue the dragons. Otherwise, how did Dragon blood and other body parts were harvested?"

"It takes multiple wizards to put a dragon to sleep, Hermione. Hagrid said that in our first year, remember."

"Well, we agree that dragons are dangerous and powerful. How can one defeat them if they are used on the tasks?" Hermione wondered.

"Our regular spells won't have the desired effect. I believe that the answer lies in the basic elements."

"The basic elements? Like water?" she asked curiously.

"Well, dragons are creatures of fire. Should it not stand to reason that they would be uncomfortable or weaker in a considerable cold climate?"

"But Harry. Elemental magic is a very advanced piece of magic."

"I did learn about the Aguamenti charm from the Standard Book of Spells."

"I have read about that but it only conjures water in a small amount." She pointed out.

"Indeed but it is a start. I will be looking into more elemental spells this evening. Want to join me?"

"Sure I would Harry." Hermione smiled and by that time they reached their class.

They were just in time for the class and Harry could see Ron tagging along with Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. He paid no mind to his former friend and went into the class. Hermione took a seat next to Lavander while he decided to take his seat next to Neville.

With the present cold relationship between Harry and Ron, Neville was his go-to guy for partnership.

"Hi, Harry." The pudgy boy greeted him as he moved over to give Harry space on the bench.

"Hi, Neville. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Oh. What's it about?" asked Neville nervously.

"I was just curious to know whether you know about many water creatures? Do you?" Harry asked

"Oh." Neville suddenly relaxed. "I know some of them, Harry. Why do you ask?"

"I am creating a list of dangerous magical creatures that may get involved in the tasks. If it is not much of a bother can you write down the names of all the water creatures you know about?"

"I can do that Harry."

"Thanks, Neville."

Just then Professor McGonagall swept into the class.

"I gather you have all reviewed your last lesson. Now, let's continue with the stone to wood transformation…"

* * *

Harry walked through the hallways of the castle trying to ignore the hostile looks being shot at him by a pair of Hufflepuff girls. He cursed the ridiculous House system of this school for all these heightened emotions. If the school could just do away with the House system he could foresee half the problems bothering the student population would go away.

But he doesn't foresee that happening anytime soon. There was always this needless baggage being carried around by every civilization that goes by the name of tradition. Traditions are hard to dislodge when they are ingrained into the marrow of culture.

There was no point in thinking about what could be when it was obviously not going to change the present scenario. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and climbed the stairs to the Seventh floor. He had given the slip to his friends and had managed to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room. He would have to get back to the Common room within an hour but that one hour was precious as far as he was concerned.

After making sure that he was alone using the Marauders Map he paced back and forth three times before the wall. A door materialized and he let himself in and the room of born out of his thoughts greeted his eyes.

To his left, there was a table and a swivelling chair. On the table lay a few books and he took one of the books. The cover read; _Magicks Most Extreme by Phineas Black._

The name took him by surprise. He had heard of that name before. If his memory served him right there was a guy with that name as a previous Headmaster of Hogwarts. It was entirely possible that this author could be a different person altogether. The identity of the author mattered less to Harry at this point. The contents however were of great interest to him.

As he leafed through the book a smile slowly blossomed on his face. It looks like he finally found what he was looking for. Now comes the hard part – learning.


	3. Making new friends

Harry palmed his wand tightly in his right hand and breathed out slowly. He focused on the effect that he wanted and unleashed his imagination. He knew what effect he wanted and he wanted this to happen in the physical world. He wanted the magic inside his body to conjure what he was imagining in his mind to become reality.

Fixing his mind on what he wanted he raised his wand. The Holly wand was held loosely with his thumb and forefinger. The handle rested on the inside of his palm and he gave his wand a counter-clockwise twirl.

 _Suffusio,_ he yelled jabbing his wand at the last moment.

The tip of his wand lit up with a blue aura and a torrent of swirling mass of water formed. He smiled at the success and as the water began to expand out of his wand it splashed into the ground losing cohesion.

"Darn it! I lost focus again." Harry muttered heatedly and slapped his cheeks to admonish himself.

"Now let's try this one more time." He muttered as he once again raised his wand and performed a counter-clockwise twirl. He jabbed his wand forward and cast the spell once more. This time he focused his mind and refused to be distracted by his initial success.

A swirling vortex of water shot out of the tip of his wand and went straight for a dummy at the end of the room. The dummy in question was smacked away by the force of the water jet. When he cancelled the spell the dummy was smashed into bits and pieces of wood.

"A useful spell but I think it is not going to be of much use against a dragon. Still, it should come in handy someday." He said to himself.

Harry went back to reading the book written by Phineas Black. It had a treasure trove of spells and the best thing was that most of the spells required little to no wand-waving patterns.

He had found it early on his quest to learn spells that he lacked a certain fortitude in performing complicated wand waving. He found it easy to make mistakes most of the time when he performed certain spells.

For example, he found Transfiguring stone to wood to be a complicated process. There was a half counter-clockwise spin accompanied by a full circular spin of the wand to perform that specific spell. Whenever he performed that spell he would botch up the spin and as a result, the stone would only be partially transfigured.

He had noticed that most of the wand waving patterns are common for Transfiguration spells. Charms tend to be the same but not to the level of Transfiguration. Nonetheless, Transfiguration is a vital field of study in Magic and he would try harder to master it.

For the time being, he decided it would be better to focus on certain spells. To that effect, he handpicked certain spells from the book, two from each element to be exact.

The first element he chose to learn was water owing to its safety compared to the other elements. It turned out to be a good choice as he had managed to perform the spell in one day. He was far from mastering it and he felt that he could tweak the spell somewhat if he practised it repeatedly. To his pleasant surprise, the spell didn't take too much magical energy to manifest. This was owed to the fact that the spell was designed to pull water from the air. The drawback was that the spell would be weaker in dry air.

Now that a sufficiently powerful water spell was in his arsenal he searched for a spell that could create ice. His vigorous search came to an end when he found the perfect spell. Conscious of the time that was running out he began to write down details of the spell into a piece of parchment.

He let out a frustrated growl as the bloody ink began to spread all over the parchment courtesy of the bloody quill. He decided he was going to find a pen or pencil as soon as possible and ditch the ever useless quill outside of classwork. The only hurdle in procuring said item would be his inability to access the Muggle world.

Now that he thought about it he was in need of a serious wardrobe change. The rags and hand me downs that he got from the Dursleys needed to be disposed of. And suddenly an idea sprung to his mind. He promptly collected all his notes and secured them in his backpack. Pulling over the Invisibility Cloak over his body he let the Marauders Map guide him straight to the kitchen.

He was quick to move silently under the cover of the Cloak to the Entrance Hall. There he moved down a set of stairs to a brightly lit corridor. It was the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff dorms. Moving slowly through the corridor he found the painting with a bowl of fruits. He tickled the pear and it let out a giggle before turning into a door handle. He pulled the handle revealing the entrance to the Hogwarts Kitchen.

He was met with a group of House Elves looking at the entrance in a confused manner. He pulled off the cloak and revealed himself to the little creatures that fed the entire student body of the castle.

"Hi." He greeted them awkwardly with a small wave of his hand.

"Harry Potter Sir has comes to the kitchens. Dobby is very happy." said Dobby as a familiar-looking elf dressed in a bowl hat and some khaki trousers barreled forward.

"Hello, Dobby. I see you have taken employment at Hogwarts." He knelt down to be on Dobby's level and gave the little elf a small hug.

Dobby looked like he was going to swoon. Thankfully he didn't and just hopped on from one leg to another with obvious excitement.

"Oh, Dobby is most happy Harry Potter sir. Dobby gets paid by Professor Dumbledore sir."

"Good for you Dobby. I am happy for you."

"Dobby is being a bad elf. No good elf should get paid." A squeaky voice complained with a few hics in between.

Harry found the owner of that voice to be a female elf, one that was familiar as the elf was a recent acquaintance.

"Dobby is a good elf. A free elf!" Dobby declared defiantly.

"A free elf is no good elf." argued Winky and then proceeded to bawl her eyes out. "Winky brought shame to Mr Crouch. Winky be a bad elf. Bad Winky. Bad Winky…."

The elf continued to mutter and began to berate herself. Harry took in the sorry state of the female House Elf. Winky was drunk and was looking like the world had just ended and she believed she was the reason for that happening. It was a sad state especially when the large tennis ball eyes were scrunched up with tears running down her cheeks.

"Winky is a good elf." Dobby tried to reassure his elfish friend.

"Winky is given clothes by Mr Crouch. No family would take in Winky now. Winky be a bad elf. A very bad elf like Dobby." The elf continued to cry.

"Sorry, Harry Potter Sir. Winky is being sad. What can Dobby do for Harry Potter Sir?"

"Me's being Pitts sir. Have some biscuits." Another elf appeared by his side with a tray of biscuits.

"Me's be Krafty sir. How about some warm milk sir?"

A glass of milk joined the biscuits. Not to be outdone the other elves one by one began to surround him with offers of different food and drinks. It took him some minutes to calm the little buggers down. In the end, he had to agree to take some biscuits and a glass of milk.

"Hey, Winky how do you feel about working for me? I am in need of a little bit of help. You can continue to help in the kitchens here and would only have to run a few errands for me." Harry offered which made the drunk elf perk up.

"Harry Potter sir wants Winky to work for him? Wink's being a bad elf sir."

"I am sure Winky is a good elf. So how about that Winky? You want to work for me?" he asked and Dobby looked a little downtrodden now.

"If Harry Potter sir is sure then Winky would be happy to work for Harry Potter sir." Winky nodded and Harry had to bite back a squeal at the way Winky nodded. It was certainly cute to see those large green tennis ball eyes and flapping ears when the elf bobbed her head.

"So how about that Dobby. I do have some serious work coming up and I would be lucky to have your help as well. I will of course pay you what you want and you may remain free."

"Oh no, sir. Dobby is happy to work for Harry Potter sir." said Dobby excitedly.

"In that case let's seal the deal with a firm handshake." He took the smaller hands of the two elves and shook them. Winky looked scandalized at the gesture while Dobby was grinning like a madman or a madelf?

Lately, Harry was becoming more and more attuned with his magic because of repeated usage. It was only because of this he felt a small tug in his energy when he sealed the pact with Dobby and Winky. He was curious to know more about the elf-wizard bond but for the time being, he let that go as he had better things to worry about.

"What should Dobby do Harry Potter sir?" asked the Elf excited to do some work.

Unfortunately for Dobby Harry didn't exactly have some great work to be done right away. He had some general plans but at the moment most of it remained just that – plans.

"I will need to get some clothes from Muggle London tomorrow evening. I will give you my Gringotts key tonight. Can you go to the bank and get some Gold and Muggle money?"

"Dobby can do that Harry Potter sir."

"Good. As for you Winky, stop drinking. Tomorrow, I believe I will have some work for you."

"Oh thank you Harry Potter sir. Thank you." Winky squeaked out amidst a watery laugh.

"Just bear in mind you two. At the moment none should know that the two of you are working for me. So only appear before me when there are no one around. If you have anything truly important just remain hidden from other's eyes if you approach me."

With that part of his plan a resounding success Harry made his way to the Gryffindor tower. The curfew was in effect and he had to dodge several patrolling prefects to make it safely back to the tower.

Before reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady he pocketed the cloak and the map in his backpack.

"Courage." he said to the Fat Lady.

"You do have that my dear." said the Fat Lady before swinging open and Harry climbed into the Common Room that was fairly packed.

In the House of Lions, being out of bounds was not a terrible crime nor was it frowned upon. Hardly anyone would care what someone was doing out of the tower when the curfew was established. So long as no one loses points it was an acceptable adventure. This was one of the reasons why the Weasley twins were held in high regard. Everyone knew those two hardly cared for any rules and they regularly broke them. But to capture them in the act was no easy task. Without capturing them they would get scot-free and would hardly lose any points.

Walking further into the Common room Harry noticed Angelina and Alicia talking animatedly near the fireplace. Katie Bell was not far behind the two chasers. He was about to join them and engage in some small talk but Neville barged into his line of vision.

"Hi, Harry. I did what you asked." said Neville as he handed him a parchment. "The list of magical creatures in water that I know of."

He had nearly forgotten about this little detail. "Thank you, Neville." He patted his otherwise silent friend.

"You're welcome, Harry." Neville smiled. "Do you reckon the first task could be in the Black Lake?"

"Oh, I don't know Neville. I searched for the previous Tournaments and it is a regular theme for the Champions to face a magical creature. With the Black Lake this close to Hogwarts I thought some water creature might be what I would have to face in the tasks."

"That makes sense. But there are a lot of other creatures Harry."

"I know." he admitted as he took a seat on a couch and Neville sat beside him. "There are a lot of land creatures and I have ruled out some of them. Here I have got a list of those…" he searched his backpack until finally he took the piece of paper and handed it over to Neville.

Neville began to scroll through the names on his list.

"I doubt they would be using a Basilisk as it can kill with its gaze alone. And Dementors are not exactly best suited for entertaining a crowd but I have a spell to deal with them. Those are the only two I have eliminated so far." Harry explained.

"You have a way to deal with Dementors? So the rumours are true then? You chased off a swarm of Dementors last year!" Neville was now looking at him as if seeing Merlin in the flesh.

"Well, I did have a spell that could take on the Dementors." Harry admitted but then he hesitated as he overcame with doubt. "I hope it works as usual. I haven't tried that spell again for a long time." He trailed off in thought as he realized that the Patronus Charm may not be as reliable as he had thought.

"Hmm…" Neville frowned all of a sudden looking at the parchment. "What about the Manticore Harry?"

"That thing exists?" he asked in surprise keeping aside his doubts regarding the Patronus.

"Oh yes. It is common in Western Greece and Egypt." said Neville

"I didn't know that."

"I don't know how you handle being a Champion Harry. I would have died of fear alone."

"You know I didn't enter myself into this blasted tournament right?"

"I believe you, Harry. I saw you when your name was called by Professor Dumbledore. All the other Champions were happy except you. You alone were scared." said Neville.

Harry took a good look at Neville. He had to admit that Neville was one observant kid. He just wondered why the previous Harry never bothered to deepen the friendship between himself and Neville. Perhaps Harry Potter was just so grateful to have a friend in Ron Weasley. He could hardly fault the previous Harry for that as Ron was Harry's first friend.

All the faults of the previous Harry Potter could be traced back to the Dursleys and hence to Albus Dumbledore. Harry was going to break out of Dumbledore's influence one way or another and this year offered many avenues to that effect. Neville was a treasure trove of knowledge regarding the Wizarding world and in a few years, he knew that Neville would become a strong wizard.

Why not expedite that right now, he thought as gears in his head turned.

"Neville, would you be willing to help me out with the tasks?" Harry asked as the beginnings of a plan began to form in his head. He knew that it was not polite to form friendships for the sake of influence and power but he had no choice. He was surrounded by powerful enemies and he needed powerful friends or pieces on the board so to speak to take out the major players.

"You want my help?" Neville squeaked out and the chubby cheeks of Neville reddened perhaps in embarrassment or fear.

"Out of all my friends, you and Hermione are the only ones that truly believe me. All others think that I cheated. If I was not in Gryffindor I am sure I will be hated by the Gryffindors as well. So yes, I would like your help if you want to of course."

"Harry, I don't think I would be of much help. I am… I am pretty much useless. I would only hold you back." Neville admitted with his head bowed low.

"Then we will grow stronger together." Said Harry as he squeezed the shoulder of Neville. "Your mother was my godmother. Our parents would have wanted us to help each other."

If nothing else that the last statement persuaded Neville and Harry saw a little bit of courage return to Neville.

"I will help you Harry." said Neville making Harry smile at the conviction behind that statement.

"In that case, how about we start doing the Herbology and Transfiguration assignment? After that, we can discuss some possible plans on how to deal with certain magical creatures." Harry offered.

"Sure Harry."

Harry nodded and stood up from the couch but paused as Neville took hold of his arm. He looked at Neville with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you for including me, Harry."

Harry smiled and clapped the boy on his shoulders. "I should be the one thanking you Neville. Now, help me with that Herbology assignment."

The two of them were later joined by Hermione who was excited to have another member in their advanced research group. Later after they were finished with the assignments they went back to the topic of Tasks. Harry knew that Neville was very knowledgeable about obscure magical plants and trees. So when he felt that Hermione was firing off her exceedingly well-furnished memory he subtlety directed the conversation. He pitched in and suggested that there was a chance for the tasks to involve plants like the Devil's snare.

This was the opening he created for Neville. He sat back and watched as Neville listed off some of the most dangerous hostile plant life known to wizardkind. It was an eye-opening conversation and that night he felt as if a new trio was being formed. It was just a start but Rome was not built in a day. He had time and patience as his allies. The was the advantage he had over his enemies and combined that with his future knowledge he had a shot at overturning the board. The board would eventually reset but the chaos that he would create in the flip was going to be his opportunity.


	4. Indomitus

"The Summoning Charm is a simple spell but something that has quite a versatile use in our day to day lives and in duels. Very commonly used for finding objects and preferred for the sake of convenience. There is no complicated wand waving for this spell. The only criteria in mastering this spell is concentration. Observe."

Flitwick pointed held his wand upright and said, "Accio book."

A book flew right off the shelf at the corner of the classroom into Flitwick's waiting hand.

"Now that you have observed the spell are there any questions?" asked Flitwick

Harry raised his hand as he was curious about the mechanics of this specific spell.

"Yes, Mr Potter." Flitwick squeaked excitedly.

"Sir, how did the spell differentiate the book that was summoned from any other book in this room?"

"Visualisation Mr Potter. I knew which book I wanted and the magic responded accordingly."

"I understood that part, sir. But my question is focused on whether the spell depends on visualization and familiarity of the object by the caster. For example, say that there is a red diamond in this room that I want. I only know the existence of this diamond from a friend. I have never seen it nor have I ever knew about it. This room is filled with other red diamonds as well. But I want the specific diamond that my friend mentioned. Keeping all this in mind if I use the Summoning Charm would the diamond that my friend mentioned would be summoned by the spell?"

"A very good question Mr Potter." Flitwick nodded with a smile. "In this scenario that you constructed the Summoning Charm would work but it will summon every red diamond in the room. Why? Simply because your information about the red diamond that you want is sorely lacking. When I summoned this book I knew which book I wanted. I didn't have to specify its name or any other attributes because I knew the book I wanted. Hence magic works its wonder. Remember children your knowledge, concentration and imagination is the limit of your magic, nothing else."

At that moment the time for the class came to an end.

"Remember to read the chapter about the Summoning Charm. Tomorrow will be a practical class." said Flitwick before dismissing the class.

Harry packed up his bag and joined Neville on the way out of the class. He could see that Hermione was speaking with Ron so he shifted his plans a bit. The next hour was free for them and he intended to get some reading done.

"Hey, Neville. I am going to the library. Want to join me?"

"Sure Harry."

As the two of them were about to take a flight of steps Draco Malfoy and his cohorts blocked their path.

"Oh look the champion is here." said Draco followed by some snide laughs from his Slytherin buddies.

"And the resident inbred morons are here. What is new?"

"What?" Draco hissed

"Oh look. The inbreeding has taken poor Malfoy's hearing as well. Perhaps you need to see Madam Pomfrey Malfoy."

"How dare you insult me, you filthy half-breed?" Draco snarled and pulled out his wand in a threatening manner.

"I dare because I dare filthy trash-blood. If you are intent on insulting me get ready to be returned that favour else get lost Malfoy." said Harry as he pointed his own wand at Malfoy.

"What is going on here?" Flitwick asked as the little professor managed to barge in.

"Oh, nothing professor. Malfoy here is under the delusion that his self proclaimed 'pure' blood is superior. I am waiting to see whether his claims hold any truth. I have to say the last three years has so far been a string of disappointments. I fear that is all we can expect from Malfoy." Harry smoothly interjected before Malfoy or his gang could say a word.

"I will not have any of you using spells in the corridor." said Flitwick with an uncharacteristic stern look from the usually bubbly persona the professor projected.

"Gladly professor. Just ask Malfoy and his gang to remove themselves from my path." said Harry

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, Mr Goyle and Mr Crabbe please do remove yourselves."

"Thank you, professor. Have a good day." said Harry. After giving a brief nod of respect he moved forward with Neville right behind him.

"I don't think Malfoy would forget that. Calling him and his friends trash-blood!" said Neville and Harry couldn't exactly pinpoint whether his new friend was afraid or ecstatic.

"It is better that he does not forget. He doesn't have a monopoly on insults. So long as he confines himself to insults then that is fine with me."

"You know it won't end there Harry."

"I am counting on it."

"Shouldn't we avoid fighting?" Neville asked

"There is no use in running when we are chased by idiots that refuse to learn. There comes a time when we either make a stand else we would be running to the ends of the world our whole life." said Harry only to receive a confused stare from Neville.

He berated himself for speaking as if he was a wise old guy. He had to remember that he was dealing with a bunch of teenagers and he himself was one. It was getting harder to pretend to be a teenager. Not to mention the sheer unfamiliarity that he was feeling even with the memories of Harry Potter.

"Last time Malfoy tried to be a pain in the ass he was punched by Hermione on the nose. The rest of the year the fool was bearable. I think it is time he gets another bloody nose." Harry explained and Neville nodded in understanding.

"So, what are we searching for in the Library?" asked Neville changing the topic to which Harty was thankful.

"How about you look for any information on Grindylows while I search for spells that would allow one to breathe in water." Harry suggested.

"Sure Harry."

* * *

"I never thought there were so many shield spells." said Harry as he leafed through the book he borrowed from the library.

"Are there that many?" asked Hermione

"Oh yes. There is the commonly used Protego charm that lets you defend against most spells. But the charm can be brought down by specific shield breakers."

"I read about that spell in the fifth year spell book." said Hermione

"It is the common shield charm preferred by many wizards as it is simple to learn and cast. There are other shield charms however and I think I found something that would be useful." said Harry with a nod towards Hermione.

"Oh. Let me see." said Hermione excitedly as she took the book he was reading and began to search for the spell.

"The _Indomitus_ charm is a shielding spell developed by Eugene Rosier in 1607. The charm when cast creates a bubble of magical shield around the castor. His hometown was regularly threatened by Goblins and he thought to create a shield that would help him protect his home from physical harm. The Goblins used metal hammers and boulders to smash homes and castles. Eugene Rosier wanted to cover his home with a shield that would physically separate his house from the rest of the town. While the spell didn't have the intended effect in protecting his home it could protect the castor and those who are immediately close to the castor. In 1651 this spell was further modified to create a ward that had the effects Eugene Rosier desired." read Hermione but Harry could see that his friend was not that much impressed.

"What?"

"Well, it is not so different from _Protego._ "

"Turn the page Hermione." said Harry

On the other side of the page, the historic uses of the spell were listed.

" _Indomitus_ was used by Gabriel De Cruz against the Hydra of Thessaly in 1707. The spell proved to shield Gabriel De Cruz from fire spat out by the Hydra. In his book 'The dance with Hydra' Gabriel De Cruz claims that the seven heads of the Hydra he faced couldn't break the _Indomitus._ " read Hermione

"So the spell can block anything physical or even fire. Can it block spells as well?" asked Neville who was silent throughout all of the conversation.

"The book doesn't say. But Harry this is a powerful spell." said Hermione

"I know. I am just keeping my options open. Besides, I do have a few weeks before the first task. I could learn the spell in that time frame."

"Hmm… There are also a few variants of the spell listed here Harry. Are you sure you want to learn this spell? The _Protego_ charm could be simpler." said Hermione

"It wouldn't hurt to try." said Harry with a shrug before accepting the book back from Hermione.

"If you are sure." said Hermione before she turned her sights on Neville who was reading up on the Summoning Charm. "Did you find any water creatures from the library Neville?"

"Huh...Oh, yes, Hermione. We read about Grindylows and some Sea Dragons. Harry even found a spell that allows to breathe underwater." said Neville

"Really! What is the spell?" she asked excitedly.

"It's the Bubble-head charm. I took some notes. Want to see it?"

At Hermione's enthusiastic nod Harry handed over the notes he prepared to her. As Hermione concentrated on the notes he prepared his eyes caught Ron giving him a stink eye from across the Common Room. Harry raised an eyebrow challengingly and Ron turned away with a huff.

Harry shook his head at the attitude of his former friend and decided that it was time to get some good training done. Besides he had to make contact with Dobby and Winky. Saying a hasty goodbye to Hermione and Neville he went out of the Gryffindor tower. Outside the tower, he promptly used the disillusion charm rather than the cloak. Somehow the charm has become familiar with him all of a sudden and he felt more comfortable without a cloak draped over his head.

He had at first thought the memories of Voldemort would become an issue but now he could barely remember them. He would get a strong sense of deja vu whenever he read a certain text or performed a spell. He found it easy to master certain spells occasionally. It was sort of like muscle memory at this point. In his case, he would say that it was a magical imprint or impression.

Perhaps this was what Nobu was talking about in that message, Harry thought.

On one hand, he was thankful Nobu had given him some aid however small that may be but he was not going to forgive that guy for taking his free will. He had yet to fully reconcile with the reality switch and it was doubtful that he would ever be able to forget his old life. Having said that he had to look forward rather than fantasize about what could have been.

Anyway, the impact of Voldemort's memories has so far been isolated to spells. He had not gotten some information dump whenever he thought about Horcruxes or even the Death Eater that was posing as Mad-eye Moody. He was thankful for that as he was sure he wouldn't be enjoying a full stack of Voldemort's memories when most of it was surely filled with torture, murder and several violent acts.

He carefully traversed through the castle dodging several patroling prefects. Finally, he managed to arrive at the seventh-floor corridor. He cast a wide area silencing charm just to be sure and then began pacing before the wall. As a door materialized before him he called out to Dobby and Winky.

"Master Potter called for Dobby/Winky."

The two elves were excitedly bouncing on their toes. He was frankly baffled at the House Elf mentality. Every time he thought about them it just doesn't make much sense. He was beginning to think that the Wizarding World thrived on not making much sense. An entire race of work-obsessed slave labourers was certainly a curious thing but he was not going to complain. But he reminded himself that he ought to be extra nice to these useful beings. It helped that the two elves before him were easily likeable and friendly.

"Dobby good to see you." He patted Dobby on the head as he would pet his dog. "Winky are you sober now?"

Dobby gave him a big smile at the show of affection while Winky was shy and if he looked carefully enough he spotted fear in her eyes.

"Winky is a good elf now master." The female elf said with her hands wrenching in anxiety or fear or both.

"Good. Follow me."

Harry walked into the room that was helpfully provided by the ROR. As the three of them walked into the room the door vanished only to be replaced by a plain wall. He sat on a cushion near the fireplace that was providing him with much-needed warmth.

"So did you manage to accomplish everything I ordered last night Dobby?" he asked

"Oh yes, Harry Potter sir. Dobby did sir." The elf excitable said and snapped his fingers.

Five set of notepads and a bunch of muggle pen appeared in a flash before his eyes. Between the notepads, his eyes found the wand holster.

"Good work Dobby." He complimented as he took the wand holster and strapped it on his left arm.

"Thank you Harty Potter Sir." Dobby said happily.

"Now, tell me are the two of you familiar with harvesting parts from magical creatures?" Harry asked

"Dobby/Winky can do Sir."

"Good. In that case, I have a magical creature that I want you two to harvest. The creature is dead but it is very poisonous. So I want you both to be very careful."

"Dobby/Winky will be very careful sir."

The two elves were starting each other down. Harry had the feeling the two were developing a rivalry of sorts. So long as it remained friendly he was not going to intervene.

"What creature is it Harry Potter sir?" asked Dobby breaking away from the staring contest with Winky.

"A Basilisk."

The two elves were now staring open-mouthed at him. He could understand Winky's surprise but he wondered why Dobby was so surprised. Dobby should have known about the Basilisk unless of course, he didn't. Perhaps Dobby merely thought the Diary was just responsible for all the attacks.

"The Great Harry Potter sir slew big snakey! Dobby should have known how great you are sir. Forgive Dobby for ever doubting you." The elf was now bowing low.

"Uhh… Dobby, don't do that. You don't have to call me great or anything and you certainly don't have to bow to me. I would appreciate it if the three of us work as friends." said Harry as he awkwardly patted Dobby and Winky on their heads.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do as the two elves promptly wept and hugged his legs while repeatedly thanking him.

It took him a few minutes to calm the two excitable elves down and directed their attention to the matter at hand.

"So can you two render the Basilisk and harvest ingredients from its body? I believe I will be having some uses for the venom and its teeth soon."

"Winky knows how to skin big snakey sir but Winky would need Goblin Steel." said Winky taking Harry by surprise.

"Why is that? Dragons have magic resistant hide and yet they have been extracted for ingredients."

"But Basilisks are born out of Dark Magic Harry Potter Sir. Even in death, the tainted magic won't leave the big snake." said Winky

"Then I am afraid harvesting the Basilisk will have to be postponed until I somehow find Goblin Steel."

"But you have Goblin Steel in your vaults sir." said Dobby

Harry blinked in surprise 'cause that was news for him.

"Huh..say that again."

"You have Goblin Steel in your vaults Harry Potter sir." repeated Dobby.

"I don't think so Dobby. The last time I visited my vault it was only Galleons, Sickles and Knuts in my vault Dobby."

"Oh no, sir. That was just your trust vault. There is a family vault of Potters and Dobby has seen many Goblin Steel blades in the vault."

"Wait a minute! There is another vault that I'd didn't know about and yet you managed to see inside the vault on just a single visit. How?"

"Dobby asked the mean Goblin to show him all the vaults of the Potters sir. Dobby wanted to arrange the vaults just as he did for bad-Malfoys." said Dobby as a way of explanation but Harry was only half paying attention. His mind was on the spin as he thought about the new possibilities offered before him.

Harry was now on the floor with his eyes level with Dobby. He put his hand on Dobby's shoulder and pulled the elf closer.

"The Goblins just let you in on the family vault of Potters with no questions asked?" he asked incredulously.

"The mean Goblins took Dobby's magic. Dobby thinks the Goblins were searching for the bond."

"But I am underage."

"Dobby doesn't know Harry Potter Sir. The Goblins are strange and think different from wizards."

Against that explanation, Harry could hardly make an argument. He just sat there staring like an idiot. He knew the Potters were an old Pureblood family. It was bound to have immense wealth considering the family tree could be traced back to the 12th century. He needed to know of the Potter history and several intricacies behind his noble lineage. He had yet to broach this subject with Neville but Neville could hardly know about the history of Potters.

Albus Dumbledore must have known about the Potters well owing to his long life and his fascination with the Deathly Hallows. But Harry was hardly going to trust a word from the man who has been manipulating Harry Potter all his life.

While he had no concrete evidence the utter apathy that Dumbledore showed to Harry Potter knowing that the kid was being abused by a bunch of lowlifes didn't sit well with him. That was not the only reason for his mistrust but he hardly needed anything else. No, he would never trust the Headmaster with even a paperclip if he could help it.

That left only one other person he could turn to for help. And that person was a wanted fugitive in the eyes of the law. Fortunately, he knew a meeting was coming up soon enough. He would just have to wait for Sirius to contact him. Till then he would wait and work on other avenues.


	5. The weighing of the wands

It was early in the morning and hardly any sunlight could be seen in the sky. A blanket of darkness concealed Harry's movements from any prying eyes. The disillusion charm also helped in that aspect. As usual, the castle was sleeping owing to the early hour. After a few more minutes of walking, he finally arrived at his destination.

He took down the disillusion charm and took in the girls lavatory on the second floor. There was hardly any difference to the structure he could see under the light from the tip of his wand. Nonetheless, he cancelled the Lumos spell and began casting some basic detection charms. He could detect no wards or proximity alarms around the place which was odd as he expected Dumbledore or any of the Hogwarts faculty to keep an eye on the Chamber.

Perhaps they didn't see any need for warding the entrance seeing as the Basilisk is dead and Harry was the only one capable of accessing the Chamber. He certainly had no complaints and by a stroke of luck, Moaning Myrtle was absent from her usual spot. As he entered the lavatory he summoned both Dobby and Winky. Both of them arrived with customary pop.

"You two ready? We are going to enter the fabled Chamber of Secrets."

"Dobby is ready Harry Potter sir."

"So is Winky master."

Nodding to his two elvish friends he raised his wand silently lighting the tip once again with Lumos. His eyes traced the snake effigies carved on the taps and pipes of the sink.

_"Open."_

Harry hardly felt he was hissing. To him, it felt like he was speaking as usual in English but the sink folding on itself let him know that he was speaking Parseltongue.

As the sink moved aside he saw the large hole on the floor. He didn't fancy jumping inside a huge pipe even if it was safe.

_"Stairs."_

To his relief, a spiralling set of stairs formed replacing the long bottomless pipe.

"Follow me."

Harry climbed in first followed by Dobby and Winky. He was careful to close the sink before continuing his journey further into the Chamber.

Despite the stairs forming on his verbal command the slime and filth were present on the way down just as he remembered. But he had the presence of mind to use a few cleansing charms to remove the filth. Winky also chipped in with a snap of her fingers and the smell vanished.

"Thanks, Winky."

"Master is too kind." said Winky and a happy smile was on her face.

Frankly, he was baffled why any wizard would want to abuse House Elves. They were like dogs with superpowers and extremely user friendly. He just shook his head at the stupidity of Wizards and moved on.

After a few minutes of walking through a bunch of steps, he stepped onto a plain floor. The floor was riddled with remains of the Basilisk's meals. Just as he remembered there were some remains of the cave in but the two elves quickly took care of that and cleared the path. The shed skin of the Basilisk was also there hardly touched by time.

Harry didn't waste any time to admire as he continued the journey. Soon they were before a large metallic door with snake effigies.

_"Open."_

The snakes on the metallic door slithered in random directions before it swung open. The true Chamber of Secrets lay open before them. Rows of huge snake effigies stood proudly inside the chamber on both sides of a wide hallway. At the end of the hallway stood the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin. On the hard floor lay the remains of the dead Basilisk and sure enough it remained untouched by time.

"Well, there it is! I welcome you both to the Chamber of Secrets." said Harry noting that both Winky and Dobby were thoroughly amazed.

"This is a giant snakey Harry Potter sir. How ever did you kill it, sir?" asked Dobby

"By stabbing a Goblin Steel sword through its mouth."

His answer only garnered two pair of wide-eyed incredulous stare.

"I know it was a stupid move but and a dangerous one but that's what happened." said Harry and shook himself out of some very unpleasant memories. Reading about that stuff was one thing but having memories of that day from the perspective of Harry Potter was another thing.

"Now, how long will it take for you to harvest this creature?"

"It should be done within a week master." said Winky with Dobby nodding along.

"This place also needs some serious patching up and I certainly am not a fan of the snake theme prevalent here. Now, the question is can you two access the Chamber without my aid?"

"Dobby and Winky can pop in without your help Harry Potter sir." said Dobby and that piqued Harry's interest.

"Truly! Aren't the wards going to stop you from teleporting in Dobby?" he asked curiously.

"Oh no Harry Potter sir. House Elves can go anywhere so long as we have seen the place even if there are wards."

Now wasn't that convenient, he thought with some relief.

Yet he could see the danger and potential in having beings that could just do as they please. If someone wanted to kill him all they would have to do was to order a House Elf to do the job.

Perhaps there are wards that can block House Elve's unique mode of travel. Most likely such wards may not have been developed during Salazar Slytherin's time.

Harry took out his pocket diary and made a reminder to search for wards that could block House Elves. Pocketing the diary he continued his inspection of the Chamber all the while his two Elvish companions were poking and prodding the dead Basilisk. Strangely he felt no fear on seeing that giant snake. There was hardly any need to fear as the bloody snake was dead for almost two years.

Perhaps Harry felt no fear because his mind was occupied with other thoughts. He wondered about the many gigantic pipes that spanned across the Chamber and where all of them lead to. Since the Marauders Map does not show the Chamber he would have to manually find out.

But that was a task he was not going to tackle anytime soon as he could seldom waste time. Perhaps he could trace those pipes after the First Task was concluded. Still, there was something else that was bugging him. If Salazar Slytherin created a secret Chamber that can only be accessed by those who have the gift of speaking Parseltongue then there was bound to be more than just some giant snake with a death stare. Certainly, there should be some personal artefacts, relics, weapons or even some books in the Chamber.

There was a chance one of these many entrances could lead to a secret room but his eyes traced the giant head of Slytherin.

_"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of Hogwarts four."_

The mouth of the giant statue opened all the way down till the chin rested on the floor.

Using his wand lit up by the white light of Lumos spell he carefully climbed into the mouth of the statue. The inside of the statue was filled with slime and filth which he vanished with a quick cleansing spell. He also decided to conjure some Bluebell flames to light up the part as the Lumos spell was hardly getting him the desired visibility.

Blue light from the Bluebell flames banished darkness and his eyes found a trap door on the floor. God first instinct was to open it with his hand but he was not suicidal. The trap door was most certainly being guarded by a giant Basilisk so some healthy caution was necessary.

Harry took a step back and hissed _"Open."._

Nothing happened so he pointed his wand at the trap door.

_"Alahamora."_

The trap door clicked open and a light began to flicker into existence from the trap door. He cautiously moved forward and sent forth a few Bluebell flames through the trapdoor. Seeing no traps or anything threatening he climbed in and found himself inside a large study. He conjured more Bluebell flames to get a better view of the study.

There were shelves upon shelves filled with books and scrolls, all in pristine condition. At the far end of the room, there was a large ornate table with lots of opened scrolls and books. He took a look at the scrolls and it was filled with Latin. Some were written in the Runic language. He even found a few books written in Old English and Welsh.

But among those dead languages, he found several parchments written in modern English. There was a good chance that these were notes prepared by Tom Riddle or some other descendants of Slytherin.

To that end, he began searching the study for any books, scrolls or parchments written in modern English. A found a few in his short search and he began collecting them into a stack. He thought of taking these books with him but thought better of it at the last moment. He could access the room whenever he pleased so it was safe for the books to remain here.

He searched the room for a few more minutes and when he found nothing else he just decided to call it a day and return to the Gryffindor tower. All in all, it was a productive morning and his quest for acquiring magical knowledge has approached another milestone.

* * *

Harry gladly Frank a warm glass of milk at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Already, he had taken in two boiled eggs and a plate of pork chops. To overcome the frailty of his body, he fixed a diet.

Breakfast would involve meat, eggs and a glass of milk. Chicken and pork were most commonly served in the morning but he had ensured Dobby or Winky would serve him some Lamb or beef from time to time. Lunch would be filled with veggies and he decided he would not consume an iota of animal fat at that time. There were lots of fruit salad that were available at the table. There was even a Qulfi served at lunch and dinner which he appreciated immensely. The dinner menu was much more simpler as he concentrated on a few fruits like apples, oranges, grapes or even a few slices of pineapple.

He designed the diet in a way that allowed easier digestion in his body by taking in as many nutrients as possible. He had even taken up the habit of drinking a blend of lemon and amla juice before going to bed as it helped in burning fat in the body. It is well known that heavier food should be consumed in the early morning and light food in the evening. He was following that same principle.

So far there were no marked changes to his body and it was highly unlikely that he would see any changes soon. Perhaps he would gain some height by the end of the year. Seeking out some expert opinion from Madam Pomfrey might not be a bad idea as well, he thought.

"You are spacing out Harry." said Neville with a small nudge.

"Ah, I was just thinking about my height or the lack of growth to be more accurate. I am the shortest boy in our year."

"I am sure you will catch up with everyone Harry." said Neville

"I hope so else I would become the boy-who-shrunk!"

Neville coughed out a laugh at that.

"I hope our star seeker grow up a bit. Can't have our Harrikins become a dwarf." said George Weasely.

"Right you are George." Fred pitched in eagerly with a serious nod.

"Our poor Champion looks like he is half dead already." said George

"Oh, cut it out you two. Instead of picking up on me how about you pranksters help me out a little bit." said Harry

"Look at this George. Harrikins wants my help."

"I think he wanted my help, Fred."

"You can both help and it is right up your alley." said Harry hoping to put a stop to the Twins going off on a tangent.

"Well, when you put it like that…" George trailed off.

"….we ought to be more considerate." finished Fred and the two looked at him curiously.

Harry leaned forward conspiratorially and began to whisper into their ears.

* * *

"Do I want to know what you are planning with the Twins Harry?" asked Neville as they were on the way to the Charms class.

"A little precaution." said Harry but Neville just gave an unconvinced stare.

"Oh, I just asked them to prepare a retaliatory prank against Malfoy and his goons." He explained.

"Why?"

"I get the feeling that Malfoy is going to come up with something that is going to annoy me. I am just preparing in advance to return the favour."

They were the first to reach the Charms classroom as others were still back in the Great Hall. The two of them took their seats on the front row.

"Neville, what do you know about the Wizengamot?" asked Harry as the two of them began to take out their books and quill from their bags.

"Well, my Grandmother's on it." said Neville.

"I see. What does the Wizengamot do?"

"They create laws for Wizards and Witches. They even conduct hearings although that is rare."

"Truly! Then how are the members selected?"

"Well, there are some thirty permanent seats reserved for noble houses of Magical Britain. Then there are the select few ministry officials. I don't know the exact number but I think it is seven or eight. Then there are the recipients of the Order of Merlin. Each person is afforded one vote."

"Hmm. Interesting."

Before Harry could ask more questions students began to pool in. He watched Hermione and Ron walking in heated by arguing amongst themselves. He paid it no mind and avoided looking in their direction.

He knew that Hermione must be in a tough spot with two of her best friends not in speaking terms. Sadly that's how it is going to be and he found no reason to rekindle his friendship with Ron.

If he was just Harry Potter that would have most likely happened but he was not the old Harry Potter. He was so far away from the real Harry Potter character-wise. He preferred tackling life by his lonesome. While he certainly had friends and a girlfriend in his old life he had kept them all at an arm's length. He had no interest in dragging himself into their problems and found peace in his solitude.

In his opinion, if someone can't stay at peace and comfortable by their lonesome then they need to revaluate their character. If someone can't be at peace within themselves then they are going to be a disaster to others. Besides he prefers to keep attachments to a minimum. That was why he enjoyed as much travelling as he liked. After college, he had found three jobs and all of them in three different cities.

In short, he was a nomad but he understood why the original Harry would forgive Ron so easily. Ron was original Harry's first friend.

Unfortunately, the original Harry was absent in this body. To the new Harry having Ron along in his plans for the future would be like tying an anchor around his neck.

Harry blinked and shook awake from his thoughts as Flitwick walked in and the Ravenclaws filled in the leftover seats in the classroom. A small revision of the previous class and some questions later they were onto the practical application of the Summoning Charm.

Having established a close bond to his magical energy performing the Summoning Charm was as easy as breathing for Harry. Flitwick was obviously happy that someone other than Hermione managed to master the spell in the class. But not everyone managed to breeze through the class effortlessly.

"I don't know what I am doing wrong. Perhaps I am a squib." whispered Neville in a broken voice looking forlornly at the ball that Neville was supposed to summon into his hands.

"Hey don't be like that Neville. Magic does not respond well when you lack confidence in yourself. Try one more time but this time just imagine that you are holding the ball in your hand when you perform the spell." said Harry as he clapped on Neville's shoulders showing his support.

On the next try, Neville didn't manage to summon the ball but the ball did move towards Neville wobbling all the way. While not a complete success it was nonetheless a good start. With what he knew about Neville's wand problem this was definitely a worthy achievement.

After Charms it was Potions and he didn't fancy sitting in a class of Severus Snape. From the memories he could access from this body the guy should be locked up in prison for mentally harassing children. Not to mention the gall to place Slytherins and Gryffindors in the same room lead by the most biased Hogwarts staff was bound to be a disaster. It was things like this that made him doubt Dumbledore's credibility as an educator or even a decent human being. It was as if the guy wants to cause more problems between Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"Uh, Harry are you sure you want to sit with me in Potions?" asked Neville as they stepped into the dungeons.

"I am sure Neville. Just be a little bit more confident."

"I would like to but…" Neville paused as Draco Malfoy and his courts blocked their path to the potions class.

All the Slytherins were wearing a badge which made him remember Hermione's SPEW badge. The badges showed a single message:

_Support CEDRIC DIGGORY-_

_The REAL Hogwarts Champion!_

"Like them Potter?" asked Malfoy loudly, as Harry and Neville approached. "And this isn't the only thing it does – look!"

Draco pressed the badge with his hand, and the message vanished, only to be replaced by another one:

_POTTER STINKS_

The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges, too, until the message _POTTER STINKS_ was shining brightly all around Harry who just let out a sigh and rolled his eyes at the resident bully.

"I see. Very imaginative. While you are at it why don't you just plaster one on your forehead? At least your head will have some use other than thinking up silly things and embarrass yourself even more. Already you are a broken joke and I wonder how low can you go. Each day you surprise me by dragging yourself further into the mud of stupidity. So congrats on scoring a new milestone."

Whatever reaction Malfoy was hoping to get from Harry that was not the one he was banking on. Harry watched dispassionately as the smug smile was wiped off from the face of the resident bully.

"Still, you have insulted the House of Potter. Rest assured my retaliation will find each and every one of you at my leisure." Harry added taking turns to stare down at each of the faces in the group. "I will exempt Crabbe and Goyle as I don't like to attack mentally challenged goons that barely have two brain cells between them."

"You can't just…" Draco began but was once again sharply cut off by Harry.

"I shall also exempt you, Greengrass. I doubt I should bother with someone who is living on borrowed time. What a curse must it be - isn't it Greengrass?"

The otherwise silent girl was now pale white and her blue eyes were wide staring at Harry in abject terror.

Seeing that the situation was spinning out of his grasp Draco made a last ditched effort and turned his attention on Hermione who was standing beside Harry shocked just like everyone else.

"Here want one Granger?" Draco offered a badge to Hermione. "But don't touch my hand as I wouldn't be wanting to taint myself with a Mudblood."

"I will take it." Said Harry and before Draco could blink the badge was in Harry's hand. "I will keep this as a souvenir to remember just how much of an inbred Trashblood you are Malfoy."

"How dare you?" Draco hissed and pulled out his wand and screamed out a spell.

Harry's eyes traced every inch of movement of Draco's hand. He was close enough that he could probably snap the fool's wand in two with his left arm but he dismissed that idea. His right hand which held his own wand made a flick and a transparent shield sprung up with no incantation. The shield absorbed the spell with nary a flicker.

"I am surprised you have the spine to look me in the eye and cast a spell Malfoy. In the first year, you ran with your tail between your legs when you challenged me to a duel. You didn't even have the decency to show up for the duel which showed how much of a wuss you are. Then in the second year, you were soundly beaten up before the entirety of Hogwarts. The third year, you acted like a hysterical princess and got punched by Hermione on the nose. And now we are in the Fourth year and not a soul could forget you turning into a ferret." Harry shook his head in a disappointed manner and he could hear roaring laughter from his back. In fact, he could see amusement in some of the Slytherins. "You have always thought of yourself as my rival. The truth is I consider you a bug that I sometimes swat away or when I am in a generous mood just avoid altogether. Consider my present mood as generous."

With that said, Harry walked around the group of Slytherins into the potions class. Not surprisingly he saw Severus Snape lurking hoping to pitch in but he gave no mind to the man and merely took a seat at the front desk. He avoided any eye contact and discretely pocketed the badge. He could imagine a good use for this little piece of magic.

It took a few minutes for the class to start as his response to Malfoy seems to have struck everyone by surprise. He didn't give that a thought and merely focused on his potions book. He felt Neville take a seat beside him and just gave him a small smile. Neville returned the gesture with some hesitation.

As Snape began the class with his classic 'instructions are on the board' approach he quietly read through the instructions. They were going to create an antidote for infections.

"I expect you all to carefully read the instructions and gather the essential ingredients. There will be no bickering and when you prepare the antidote we will need someone to test them on." said Snape and the guy was now staring at Harry as if that was supposed to be intimidating. All he felt at that moment was that he was going to kick the son of the bitch in the balls if that happened.

Something must have shown on Harry's face because Snape was now doubling on his stare. Then a knock on the door broke Snape's focus. Snape waves his wand and the door opened to show Colin Creevey.

The third-year Gryffindor edged into the room with zero fear when in the presence of Snape. The boy was beaming at Harry all the way and now stood before Snape.

"Yes?" said Snape curtly and Harry could see the man was hardly satisfied by the lack of reaction from Colin.

"Please sir I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

"Potter has Potions class to complete." Snape stared down at Colin.

"Sir, Mr Bagman wants him." said Colin now showing a little nervousness. "All the Champions have to go, I think they want to take photographs…"

"Very well, very well. Potter leave your things here, I want you back here later to test your antidote." Snape snapped

"Please sir, he's got to take his things with him." Colin gulped as Snape rounded on the boy with his stare. "All the Champions are supposed to…"

"Very well. Potter, get out of my sight."

Harry didn't move right away. He took his time and throughout all that time he trained his eyes on Snape. One thing was certain in his mind at that moment. He was going to make sure that the resident bat was going to get kicked out of this school and if possible in a nice cell in Azkaban if he could help it.

All of a sudden he felt the feeling of a pinprick on his forehead and the feeling disappeared when his mind instinctually blanked out. He frowned at the feeling and yet when he searched for it, it remained elusive. He had an idea what happened but he was not exactly a hundred percentage sure. He paid no attention to anyone and left the dungeons with Colin Creevey in tow.

"It's amazing isn't it Harry?" said Colin

"What is?"

"You being Champion?"

"Hmm…I guess."

"I think you will win Harry." said Colin excitedly.

"I appreciate your support, Colin."

They made some small talk on their walk until finally, they were before the right room.

"Good luck Harry." said Colin and then the excitable third-year left.

He had prepared for this moment ever since he had come to this world. He knocked on the door and entered.

He was in a classroom but all the desks were pushed to the side. He recognised Ludo Bagman who was conversing with a lady whom he assumed was Rita Skeeter. Viktor Krum was hanging around a closed window looking moodily at the whole classroom. Fleur and Cedric were conversing with each other on another corner. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera, one that would be common in the 60s, was staring at Fleur as though she was a goddess.

He noticed an almost glazed look on Cedric as well and he realised Fleur was releasing her allure. It must have been in a controlled way seeing as Bagman and Krum remained unaffected.

"Harry! Here he is! Our youngest Champion. In you come Harry…nothing to worry about, it's just the Wand Weighing ceremony. The rest of the judges will be here in a minute or so…"

"I see." Harry nodded at the man. He could at least rest assured the man was here to help and an easy-going fun character hardly posed any threat to him.

"We have to check that all your wands are fully functional you see. The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a wee little photoshoot. This is Rita Skeeter," said Bagman as the witch dressed in luminous green robes moved closer. "She's doing a small piece on the Tournament for the Daily Prophet..."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo." Said Rita Skeeter her eyes brightly glimmering as she zeroed in on Harry. "I wonder if I can have a little word with Harry? The youngest Champion you know…to add a bit of colour."

The woman's smile was now predatory.

"Sure. But I don't think we will get the privacy." Harry supplied with an innocent smile.

"Oh don't you worry Harry." Rita grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip and dragged him out of the room. They were in another room and Rita closed the room behind her.

He took in the dusty buckets and brooms inside the room and realised it was a broom closet.

"Hardly a venue for conducting an interview but if it's okay with you, why not." He said with a shrug and merely leaned on a nearby wall while Rita took a seat on a bucket and she closed the door immersing them in darkness. A light began to shine as a candle was lit out of nowhere and the candles floated in the air as Rita Skeeter began to take out a notepad along with a quill.

"You won't mind if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill do you, Harry?"

"If you want to sure but I wouldn't advise it, Miss Beetle."

"What?" Rita Skeeter was now staring at him with an open mouth.

"I wonder why you hide your animagus form, Miss Skeeter. I suppose you would not be able to properly infiltrate and do your 'investigative journalism' properly. And the Ministry would most likely lock you up if they get wind of it isn't that right? You have made too many enemies with that ability of yours and the least you will get will be an Azkaban sentence."

Now that he knew that he had sufficiently shocked the woman to her core he smiled and took the quill away from her hand.

"I think we are familiar enough and you have certainly come to realize that you don't want to make an enemy out of me. If I know your deepest dark secret that you have not shared with anyone then there is no reason for you to disbelieve when I say that I am a dangerous foe to my enemies but a good friend to my wellwishers." said Harry and placed his hand on her shoulder making Rita Skeeter shiver. "Now, I hope we can be friends and I always help my friends."

"What do you want?" asked Rita but his wand was now digging into her neck.

"Please leave the wand you were trying to pull out from your sleeve. A memory charm won't work on an accomplished Occlumense and unfortunately for you, I am one. Now, be a good girl and leave that wand."

He removed the wand from Rita's neck and smiled nastily.

"I know you thrive on controversy and I can deliver you many Rita. So are you team Potter or are you going to be in my enemy camp in which case I give you my best but don't come crying to me when the world that you built falls apart around you in the blink of an eye?"

The slow nod from Rita Skeeter put a smile on his face and he began to converse with the woman. As promised he fed her a controversy one that suited his plans.

A while later they were back in the room with the Champions and the Wand Weighing ceremony commenced without a hitch. Dumbledore was shooting him curious looks throughout the ceremony but he paid the old man no mind.

Ollivander went around and inspected each wand. He was obviously happy with Cedric's wand as it was one of his own. Krum's and Fleur's wand he was not so fond but he declared them all in pristine condition. Then came Harry's turn.

"Ah, yes Holly and Phoenix feather. How well I remember how well... Unusual combination and…" Ollivander pressed his ear into the wand. "Oh yes. The song is different. The dominion by the castor is complete. The Phoenix feather is singing to your will, Mr Potter. Exceptionally powerful in the right hand."

Ollivander waved the wand and a jet of water shot out. He promptly declared the wand was in best shape and handed it over to Harry. A few more photos were taken with the Champions together and Fleur gave him a curious look. He merely raised an eyebrow in question to which she turned her nose snobbishly. He just shrugged and went his own way when the circus was over.

Later that night he was tired with all the training done in the evening. Exhausted and planning to grab a snack from the kitchen he stumbled into his dorm to pick up his cloak. He was not so confident in his disillusion charm to hold up after the intensive training he went through.

"A letter arrived for you." said Ron from his bed.

Harry looked at the Hogwarts' owl that was patiently waiting on his bed. Sure enough, there was a letter in the owl's claw. He picked up the letter and the owl went its own way. Ron said something snarky but Harry paid him no mind. He left with the letter in hand after retrieving his cloak. The letter was from Sirius and soon he was going to meet his godfather. This was something that he has been looking forward to and he intended to make it a productive conversation.


End file.
